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Bengals Booth Podcast: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast, the Good, the Bad, and the
0:11
Speaker 1: Ugly edition. As we take an in depth look at
0:13
Speaker 1: Week three of the preseason and the twenty five twenty
0:16
Speaker 1: three lass to the New York Giants. Coming up, you'll
0:19
Speaker 1: hear radio replays from the game, locker room comments from
0:23
Speaker 1: players and coaches, and Dave Lappom will join me for
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Speaker 1: postgame analysis. Plus, in this week's Fun Facts Conversation, I'll
0:31
Speaker 1: talk to rookie running back Jordan Ellis about a wide
0:34
Speaker 1: variety of topics, ranging from watching the basketball team win
0:38
Speaker 1: a national championship as a student at Virginia two his
0:42
Speaker 1: love of roller coasters. All of that is straight ahead.
0:45
Speaker 1: But first, here's a quick reminder that you can have
0:48
Speaker 1: the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
0:53
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify,
0:58
Speaker 1: or pod Bean. It's the greatest invention since aluminum foil.
1:06
Speaker 1: Think of all the ways we use aluminum foil. There's cooking,
1:09
Speaker 1: there's rapping food, there's art and decoration, and there's the
1:13
Speaker 1: tinfoil hat. For you conspiracy buffs, the list goes on
1:18
Speaker 1: and on a useful product that dates back to nineteen ten,
1:22
Speaker 1: aluminum foil. Now let's get to football. Do you like
1:27
Speaker 1: sports trivia? Do you want a great question to spring
1:30
Speaker 1: on your football loving buddies, Well, your friend Dan is
1:34
Speaker 1: here to help. Here goes In the last fifty years,
1:39
Speaker 1: the New York Giants have selected three quarterbacks in the
1:42
Speaker 1: first round of the NFL draft. Who are they all right?
1:46
Speaker 1: They selected Daniel Jones this year out of Duke. There's one.
1:50
Speaker 1: Phil Simms was a first round draft pick out of
1:53
Speaker 1: Morehead State back in nineteen seventy nine. There's two, and
1:57
Speaker 1: then there's Eli Manning's three. That was easy, not so fast.
2:03
Speaker 1: My friend Manning was taken number one overall by the Chargers,
2:09
Speaker 1: even though he made it clear in advance that he
2:11
Speaker 1: didn't want to play for them. The Giants actually drafted
2:15
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers fourth overall, then traded him and three additional
2:20
Speaker 1: draft picks to the Chargers for Manning. So Philip Rivers
2:24
Speaker 1: is actually number three. Have fun stumping your friends. While
2:30
Speaker 1: Manning wasn't one of the correct answers, he is still
2:32
Speaker 1: the Giant starting quarterback. And on Thursday night, Eli directed
2:36
Speaker 1: a fifteen play six and a half minute drive, the
2:39
Speaker 1: first time New York had the ball. Pro Bowl kicker
2:42
Speaker 1: Aldric Rosas gave the Giants an early lead. His longest
2:47
Speaker 1: last year was fifty seven, so forty one yard should
2:49
Speaker 1: not be a problem in terms of the distance. Here
2:52
Speaker 1: comes his kick and it is just barely good. He
2:57
Speaker 1: kept it just inside the right, upright, and his forty
3:01
Speaker 1: one yard try puts the Giants on the scoreboard. First.
3:04
Speaker 1: The Bengals failed to score on their first two possessions,
3:06
Speaker 1: but on the third, Andy Dalton threw his first touchdown
3:10
Speaker 1: pass of the preseason. We're down to fifteen seconds to
3:13
Speaker 1: go here in the first quarter. The Bengals have a
3:15
Speaker 1: first down at the twenty sixth of New York. Dalton's
3:17
Speaker 1: gonna throw forth the end zone. It is caught by
3:20
Speaker 1: c h U Zammah. Touchdown Bengals. Dalton went seven for
3:25
Speaker 1: ten for one hundred and four yards and said, you,
3:28
Speaker 1: Zammah made the touchdown pass uneasy one. CJ did a
3:31
Speaker 1: great job of getting open and you know he really
3:34
Speaker 1: he had about three yards of separations, so he made
3:37
Speaker 1: my job pretty easy. But great route concept, great, great
3:42
Speaker 1: great play by CJ. Getting open and for me to
3:44
Speaker 1: just put out there, let me go make a play.
3:46
Speaker 1: Both starting quarterbacks were gone by the second quarter, and
3:49
Speaker 1: for New York that meant another chance for Daniel Jones
3:53
Speaker 1: to shut up anybody who mocked the Giants for selecting
3:57
Speaker 1: him with a sixth overall pick, that include ju Baker Mayfield.
4:01
Speaker 1: In three preseason games, Jones has completed eighty three percent
4:05
Speaker 1: of his passes, is averaging twelve point three yards per attempt,
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Speaker 1: and has a passer rating of one forty point one.
4:13
Speaker 1: He hasn't thrown an interception yet, but Jones has fumbled
4:17
Speaker 1: three times. It's Jones back to throw gets smashed as
4:21
Speaker 1: he tried to football. The ball is loose and the
4:24
Speaker 1: Giants are able to recover it at the twenty nine
4:27
Speaker 1: yard line, eight yard loss. Carl Lawson flying in on
4:31
Speaker 1: the blind side of quarterback Daniel Jones and smashing him
4:36
Speaker 1: as he tried to deliver the football. I'm telling you
4:38
Speaker 1: what right now, Nate Solder is getting eaten alive by
4:42
Speaker 1: Carl Lawson. I mean that was nothing more than just
4:45
Speaker 1: pure upfield speed rush that time Soldier because he got
4:49
Speaker 1: bull rushed the first time. He was setting too strong
4:52
Speaker 1: and Carl Lawson said, I see you setting for my ball.
4:56
Speaker 1: I'm gonna speed rush you're outside brow see you later.
4:59
Speaker 1: It was Carl Auston's first preseason action after tearing his
5:03
Speaker 1: ACL in Week eight last year. He's back. I mean,
5:08
Speaker 1: how did it feel? Uh? You were you were throwing
5:11
Speaker 1: Nate Solder around like he was a Reggedy Andy doll. Yeah,
5:14
Speaker 1: I mean it felt good. Like I mean, like I said,
5:17
Speaker 1: it's been it's been steps to the process, an off season,
5:20
Speaker 1: re evaluate my game, then you know, taking it and
5:22
Speaker 1: put into practice. And then I noticed, you know, everything
5:25
Speaker 1: I thought that need to change and fix, you know,
5:28
Speaker 1: um it showed up in practice. And then the final
5:31
Speaker 1: step was putting into a game. So now I'm confidence
5:33
Speaker 1: in the sky high to continue on that path. A
5:35
Speaker 1: lot of stuff and I still need to work on,
5:37
Speaker 1: but I'm excited that some of my work is starting
5:39
Speaker 1: to pay off. You went, um speed to power you know,
5:42
Speaker 1: bull rush to him. Then you then your edge speed
5:44
Speaker 1: to rush on it. He didn't, he didn't know what
5:46
Speaker 1: you were thinking. I mean, how many moves do you
5:48
Speaker 1: have now? I mean, how many legitimate moves do you
5:50
Speaker 1: have to I feel like like elite moves I have three,
5:53
Speaker 1: So I mean there was another play earlier. I think
5:55
Speaker 1: the first one came inside, So I mean you got
5:58
Speaker 1: to defend all three. So now I mean, just you know,
6:01
Speaker 1: I just just keep working. I've got an inside move,
6:03
Speaker 1: I got a power move, and how I got a
6:04
Speaker 1: speed move. And offseason was really just working on speed,
6:08
Speaker 1: getting that half a second faster, because like I said
6:11
Speaker 1: many times before, I don't think I had a problem
6:13
Speaker 1: beating people last year. I just think I wasn't getting
6:15
Speaker 1: there fast enough. And this year, with the stuff I'm
6:17
Speaker 1: studying and the stuff I've been working on and how
6:19
Speaker 1: I changed my body, I feel like I'll get there faster.
6:22
Speaker 1: Despite loss in strip sacked, the Giants later scored on
6:25
Speaker 1: that drive to reclaim the lead. Eli Penny checks in
6:29
Speaker 1: at fullback. Rod Smith is the tailback. Jones is going
6:32
Speaker 1: to hand it to Smith and Smith fights his way
6:35
Speaker 1: into the end zone for a Giant's touchdown. Second effort, Dan,
6:38
Speaker 1: You're right, Initially he was stopped. Then he bounced it,
6:42
Speaker 1: continue to bounce it outside, found a little softer seam
6:46
Speaker 1: and took it into the end zone. Fought his way in.
6:49
Speaker 1: The Bengals also drafted a quarterback who has been impressive
6:52
Speaker 1: in the preseason. Ryan Finlay and he led the Bengals,
6:55
Speaker 1: had a twelve play drive just before the half to
6:58
Speaker 1: tie the game. This will be a yard field goal
7:01
Speaker 1: try from the right hash mark for Randy Bullock. Huber
7:04
Speaker 1: extends the hand, catches the ball, puts it down the
7:07
Speaker 1: swing of the leg by Bullock, and his kick from
7:09
Speaker 1: fifty yards away is good, tying the score at ten
7:14
Speaker 1: with twenty nine seconds left him a half. In the
7:17
Speaker 1: second half, a pair of newcomers stood out for the Bengals,
7:21
Speaker 1: beginning with rookie running back Rodney Anderson. From the right hash.
7:24
Speaker 1: Finley drops back to throw decent protection, his pass caught
7:28
Speaker 1: by Rodney. Anderson sig zagging up the middle of the
7:31
Speaker 1: field for a first down, and more crosses the thirty
7:33
Speaker 1: and gets tackled at the thirty three yard line by
7:37
Speaker 1: safety Sean Chandler, a big time I hoped first down
7:41
Speaker 1: on third and ten. In four years at Oklahoma, Anderson
7:44
Speaker 1: missed three due to season ending injuries, including a broken leg,
7:49
Speaker 1: a fractured vertebrae in his neck, and a torn acl
7:53
Speaker 1: in the Sooners second game last year. In his Bengals
7:56
Speaker 1: preseason debut, Rodney had eight carries and four pass receptions.
8:01
Speaker 1: I mean, all they told me is that I was
8:02
Speaker 1: going to get my chance and get an opportunity. And
8:05
Speaker 1: you know, I've been telling people since the beginning. You know,
8:07
Speaker 1: it's all I need is an opportunity, and that's all
8:10
Speaker 1: I was looking for. So everybody in this room had
8:13
Speaker 1: that dream at some point of making their first ever
8:16
Speaker 1: NFL appearance. Can you describe what it means to you
8:18
Speaker 1: in light of what you've overcome? It means a lot.
8:22
Speaker 1: You know, I've been through so much, and you know,
8:24
Speaker 1: it's just it's just really special to finally get out there.
8:28
Speaker 1: The other newcomer was undrafted quarterback Jake Dola Gala out
8:32
Speaker 1: of Central Connecticut State. With Jeff Driscoll out of action
8:35
Speaker 1: with a sore hamstring, Big Jake made a great first impression.
8:40
Speaker 1: Jake Dola Gala, in his NFL preseason debut, catches a
8:44
Speaker 1: shotgun snap. The six foot seven inch quarterback fires deep down,
8:47
Speaker 1: caught at the ten yard line, and ben Tell Bryant
8:51
Speaker 1: is knocked out of bounds at the five. What a
8:54
Speaker 1: throw tremendous. Strow dropped a dime right there to Big
8:58
Speaker 1: Jake Dola Gala gave the Bengals the lead in the
9:01
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, third down and goal from the four, Dolla
9:04
Speaker 1: Galla Will throw a fade toward the back left quarter
9:07
Speaker 1: at the end zone. It is caught by Damian Willis
9:10
Speaker 1: for a Bengals touchdown. Damian Willis finished with three catches
9:14
Speaker 1: for fifty five yards in that touchdown, and the undrafted
9:17
Speaker 1: free agent was in the starting lineup on Thursday night. Yes,
9:21
Speaker 1: I was surprised. I didn't know that until yesterday, So yes,
9:25
Speaker 1: I did start. What that means to you, I meant
9:28
Speaker 1: a lot. It shows that there was actually gonna give
9:30
Speaker 1: me opportunity to go with the ones and everything to
9:32
Speaker 1: prove what I had to do. I mean, when you
9:34
Speaker 1: get to start in week three of the preseason and
9:36
Speaker 1: you catch a touchdown pass, are you starting to feel
9:38
Speaker 1: pretty good about your chances of being on that fifty
9:41
Speaker 1: three man roster. I'm gonna say, like I said everybody,
9:44
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna talk about the fifty three man roster.
9:46
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna say, hopefully I'll make it, hopefully coaster
9:48
Speaker 1: that gives me an opportunity to be on the rust
9:50
Speaker 1: of them. That's I'm gonna say on that one Damien's
9:52
Speaker 1: chances are looking better by the day. Down by seven,
9:56
Speaker 1: the Giants answered with a one yard touchdown run by
9:59
Speaker 1: John Hilliman and did not play for the tie. In
10:02
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, the ball placed at the two yard
10:04
Speaker 1: line for this two point conversion. Try for the lead.
10:07
Speaker 1: Law leta back at the seven. We'll catch a shotgun, snap,
10:10
Speaker 1: fakes a handoff, throws and it's caught for a two
10:13
Speaker 1: point conversion. Gunned it over the middle to Alonzo Russell
10:18
Speaker 1: started his NFL career with the Bengals, and he's given
10:21
Speaker 1: the Giants a one point lead with eight minutes and
10:24
Speaker 1: thirty four seconds to good. One minute and thirty six
10:28
Speaker 1: seconds later, the Giants scored again. Huber into punt. Britain
10:32
Speaker 1: Golden back at the twenty yard line to return. Huber's
10:35
Speaker 1: punt is going to carry to the thirty one. Golden
10:39
Speaker 1: running sideways, now accelerates to the forty the fifty. He's
10:43
Speaker 1: being chased toward the sideline by Huber later and it
10:47
Speaker 1: is going to be a touchdown return for Brittain Golden.
10:50
Speaker 1: The sixty eight yard punt return gave New York a
10:53
Speaker 1: twenty five seventeen lead, but the next time the Bengals punted.
10:57
Speaker 1: Golden did not live up to his last name. This
11:00
Speaker 1: punt will be fielded at the thirty two then dropped.
11:05
Speaker 1: The Bengals begin celebrating at the thirty five yard line
11:08
Speaker 1: and the Bengals have recovered. So a muffed punt by
11:11
Speaker 1: Golden recovered by Mason Shrek and the Bengals will take
11:16
Speaker 1: over at the thirty five yard line of New York.
11:19
Speaker 1: Dola Gala took advantage of the short field. Bengals have
11:22
Speaker 1: it first in gold down by eight with two minutes
11:25
Speaker 1: and forty six seconds left in regulation. Josh Malone out
11:29
Speaker 1: to the right, Ben Tell Bryant out to the left.
11:31
Speaker 1: Flowers remains the running back. Dola Gala throws a fade
11:35
Speaker 1: for Josh Malone hey Hut over the shoulder catch for
11:38
Speaker 1: a Bengals touchdown. The Bengals were down by two with
11:42
Speaker 1: two forty three to go. And while nobody, I mean
11:46
Speaker 1: nobody likes overtime games in the preseason, Zach Taylor dislikes
11:51
Speaker 1: losing even more. Tola Gala in the shotgun. He has
11:55
Speaker 1: three receivers left and one out to the right, catches
11:57
Speaker 1: a high snap, drops back to the ten I was
12:00
Speaker 1: into the end zone. It is incomplete for Josh Malone,
12:03
Speaker 1: no penalty flags and the Bengals trail by two. In
12:07
Speaker 1: his first ever NFL action, Jake Dolagala finished ten for
12:11
Speaker 1: twelve for ninety four yards, two touchdowns and a passer
12:15
Speaker 1: rating of one thirty eight point nine. It was decent,
12:18
Speaker 1: you know, it was. It was good. Um. I thought,
12:20
Speaker 1: I went out there, played with it myself. Um, you know,
12:23
Speaker 1: let the guys around me make a lot of the plays. Um.
12:26
Speaker 1: You know, up front, they gave me a lot of
12:27
Speaker 1: opportunities to to sling the rock, which I like to do.
12:30
Speaker 1: So it was good. How cool was it? I mean,
12:32
Speaker 1: coming from central Connecticut state to be out there against
12:35
Speaker 1: the New York Giants, as you put it, sling in it. Oh,
12:38
Speaker 1: it was great. Um, you know, that's it's it's been
12:40
Speaker 1: a dream since I was you know, we little boy,
12:43
Speaker 1: and um, you know, I know it's preseason, but just
12:46
Speaker 1: that you know a little bit of a taste of it. Um,
12:49
Speaker 1: it was great. It was very exciting. You probably got
12:51
Speaker 1: more snaps in the fourth quarter than you've been getting
12:54
Speaker 1: in full team drills in training camp. Oh, yeah, for sure. Um,
12:59
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of a lot of what what
13:01
Speaker 1: I do in practice is mental reps, and for me
13:04
Speaker 1: to finally get out there and, um, you know, actually
13:06
Speaker 1: do it for real physically, it was great. We're visiting
13:10
Speaker 1: with Jake Dola Gala. Who are you excited to talk
13:12
Speaker 1: to after this game? M Probably my parents. They're probably
13:15
Speaker 1: going nuts at home because you know, I kind of
13:19
Speaker 1: let him on saying I wasn't sure if I was
13:21
Speaker 1: gonna get in, knowing that you know, I was probably
13:23
Speaker 1: gonna get a shot. So they were probably at home watching,
13:25
Speaker 1: and yeah, they're probably they're probably crazy excited the final score,
13:30
Speaker 1: New York twenty five, Cincinnati twenty three. Dave Lapham spent
13:34
Speaker 1: three minutes with Zach Taylor after the game. Coach through
13:38
Speaker 1: it three twenty five yards passing but just twenty nine rushing,
13:42
Speaker 1: So it was kind of one dimensional for you. I
13:44
Speaker 1: know on first down, you guys had a lot of
13:46
Speaker 1: your touchdown pass you had another thirty five yard, or
13:48
Speaker 1: you had a twenty six yard or twenty eight yard
13:50
Speaker 1: or you're this offense on first and second down can
13:53
Speaker 1: be pretty pretty darn explosive. Yeah, it'll be exciting when
13:55
Speaker 1: we get the run game going. You know, we got
13:57
Speaker 1: Joe and Geo in there, and we're a little more
13:59
Speaker 1: divest with what we're doing so right now, just just
14:03
Speaker 1: trying to get a couple of runs mixed in there.
14:04
Speaker 1: But I thought the past game is literally sharp o line.
14:07
Speaker 1: Other than a couple of plays there in the first quarter,
14:09
Speaker 1: protection has been up to par, and so it's good
14:12
Speaker 1: to see this quarterbacks execute when their numbers called, every
14:14
Speaker 1: one of them quarterback rating of ninety plus. I think
14:17
Speaker 1: Finley's was in the nineties and the other two were
14:19
Speaker 1: like in the hundreds. I think what about Big Jake.
14:22
Speaker 1: It was Big Jake's first opportunity to go out there.
14:24
Speaker 1: What do you think, Big Jake? It wasn't too big
14:25
Speaker 1: for him. He went in there and immediately was aggressive
14:28
Speaker 1: down the field, which is great to see. And again
14:30
Speaker 1: that's a credit to Alex Van Pelt. He's done a
14:32
Speaker 1: really nice job with that quarterback room, and so Jake,
14:34
Speaker 1: coming off and not many reps, was able to step
14:36
Speaker 1: up and make the most of his opportunity. So at
14:39
Speaker 1: this point, is it where you wanted to What do
14:42
Speaker 1: you like most about this football team? I guess is
14:44
Speaker 1: my question at this point that we're connected football team.
14:46
Speaker 1: Guys played with great energy in the second half. You know,
14:48
Speaker 1: they made a couple more plays than we did there
14:50
Speaker 1: at the end. But I thought our guys came out
14:52
Speaker 1: with enthusiasm, they were supporting each other, they were playing harror,
14:54
Speaker 1: they were detailed what we were asking to do. And
14:57
Speaker 1: so that's that's the progress that we want to see
14:59
Speaker 1: from this team. What about third down, I know it
15:02
Speaker 1: was it was tough sledding early in the early stage
15:04
Speaker 1: of the game on third down, and uh, but you
15:07
Speaker 1: know with that running game, it wasn't wasn't getting you
15:09
Speaker 1: much in those early downs for you. That was the
15:11
Speaker 1: difference really is Defensively, we were ahead of the chains
15:14
Speaker 1: on third down early on. You know, I think they
15:16
Speaker 1: were at thirty three percent a half time. But offensively,
15:18
Speaker 1: we challenged the guys. We got to win the third
15:20
Speaker 1: down battle, and we did not do that tonight. And
15:22
Speaker 1: that's that's the difference in winning and losing when that
15:23
Speaker 1: turnover battle is going to be dead even. And then
15:26
Speaker 1: obviously you had a seventy five yard punt return touchdown
15:29
Speaker 1: last week. There was a big playing game. They got one.
15:31
Speaker 1: They got one tonight. That's uh, you know, that's the
15:33
Speaker 1: nature of the beast in the NFL. All three phases
15:35
Speaker 1: are important. I guess that's right. You know, a couple
15:36
Speaker 1: of guys lost leverage there and so that's something we
15:38
Speaker 1: got to correct. And but again it's all three. We
15:40
Speaker 1: got to tie together in the fourth quarter. That's when
15:41
Speaker 1: we got to step up and make those plays. And
15:43
Speaker 1: you know, offense, we need to convert the two bunting
15:45
Speaker 1: version special teams. I gave up the punt defense, get
15:47
Speaker 1: a stop in four minute, get the ball back to
15:49
Speaker 1: the offense. And the Giants made were poison. We did
15:52
Speaker 1: a couple of guys. I'm watching Carl Lawson, I'm like,
15:54
Speaker 1: oh my god. He threw Nate Solder like he was
15:56
Speaker 1: raggedy andy man. It was like he was throwing him around.
15:59
Speaker 1: And he them on that thirty five yard down to
16:01
Speaker 1: the two yard and he held the heck out of Lawson.
16:04
Speaker 1: But watching him, watching Anderson Anderson was impressive to watch.
16:08
Speaker 1: Very exciting to get both those guys back. They've been
16:09
Speaker 1: working hard. I know they feel as good as they've
16:12
Speaker 1: ever felt. So really happy to see them on the
16:13
Speaker 1: field tonight having a good time. And then Gino was
16:15
Speaker 1: Gino Hernano has had to grab him, grab him up
16:18
Speaker 1: by the throat to try to pass protect. I mean,
16:20
Speaker 1: nothing you can do when Gino gets rolled. Yeah, we'll
16:22
Speaker 1: put Gino back in his glass case for a now,
16:23
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks before we get on the road
16:25
Speaker 1: to Seattle. Pretty Much everybody in the glass case at
16:28
Speaker 1: this point. I mean that, Yeah, for the most part. Well,
16:30
Speaker 1: some of these guys competed out. They're still fine for spots,
16:32
Speaker 1: but you'll see a lot of guys down next week.
16:34
Speaker 1: And finally, the wide receivers to young white outs audn't
16:37
Speaker 1: take get nicked up a little bit. But you know,
16:39
Speaker 1: guys had an opportunity to take snaps with the number
16:41
Speaker 1: ones against number ones in that evaluation process. How big
16:44
Speaker 1: was that? Yeah, I thought those guys stepped up and
16:46
Speaker 1: made plays. And you know, recall maybe one or two
16:49
Speaker 1: drops throughout the game. But other than that, those guys,
16:50
Speaker 1: we put the ball in the air quite a bit,
16:52
Speaker 1: and those guys made plays for us. Now, time for
16:54
Speaker 1: laps postgame analysis. Let's start with what to me was
16:58
Speaker 1: the biggest positive the passing game. The Bengals used three quarterbacks.
17:03
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton threw his first touchdown of the preseason. Ryan
17:06
Speaker 1: Finley was solid for the third consecutive game, and lo
17:09
Speaker 1: and behold. Jake de la Gala got more snaps in
17:12
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter than he's received in all of training camp,
17:16
Speaker 1: and he threw a pair of touchdown passes. He stepped up,
17:18
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, very first play he was in
17:20
Speaker 1: the game, he was aggressive. I mean he went down
17:22
Speaker 1: the field. Now you know, he complimented Zach Taylor. He said,
17:25
Speaker 1: you know Zach's play call he'd started up for him.
17:27
Speaker 1: He said, let's see what you got, and he stepped
17:29
Speaker 1: up and made a play. Like you said. Finlay's quarterback
17:32
Speaker 1: rating was like ninety two plus. The other two were
17:35
Speaker 1: in the one thirties. I think, you know. So the
17:37
Speaker 1: passing game very efficient, over three and fifty gross threwing
17:41
Speaker 1: in twenty five net passing yards. I mean that was very,
17:44
Speaker 1: very big positive. But there wasn't a balanced offense, that's
17:47
Speaker 1: for sure. Now. The Bengals running game was not good.
17:50
Speaker 1: We'll get to that momentarily because I want to hit
17:52
Speaker 1: on another positive first, and that is the debut of
17:55
Speaker 1: Rodney Anderson, the running back who had three season ending
17:58
Speaker 1: injuries in four years at Oklahoma. He got twelve touches.
18:02
Speaker 1: More impressive in the passing game than the running game,
18:05
Speaker 1: but there weren't many holes to run through on the
18:07
Speaker 1: running plays. Yeah, I think that the running game just
18:10
Speaker 1: wasn't there. It wasn't wasn't getting done. But I think
18:13
Speaker 1: he showed his running ability after making a couple of
18:16
Speaker 1: catches more than once he made guys miss and when
18:19
Speaker 1: he's in space, you get him an opportunity to make
18:22
Speaker 1: some cuts and make some plays. He's big time and man.
18:26
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon and Anderson were one two punch at Oklahoma,
18:30
Speaker 1: and to give him in the sixth round. If he
18:32
Speaker 1: stays healthy, that could be the steal of quite a while.
18:36
Speaker 1: Had he stayed healthy at Oklahoma, he certainly would have
18:39
Speaker 1: been drafted much higher than the sixth round. I'm trying
18:42
Speaker 1: to think of a draft pick taken really late that
18:46
Speaker 1: played that well for the Bengals. And again he hasn't
18:48
Speaker 1: played in a regular season game yet, but Marvin Jones,
18:51
Speaker 1: a fifth round pick comes to mind. Geno Atkins a
18:53
Speaker 1: fourth round pick, but sixth round. To have that kind
18:56
Speaker 1: of talent potentially huge you for the Bengal Yeah. I
19:01
Speaker 1: mean when you look at him, he is he passes
19:05
Speaker 1: the eyeball test. I mean, he's he's like the prototype,
19:08
Speaker 1: the prototypical. I mean, you know, he's two hundred and
19:10
Speaker 1: twenty five pounds and it's all put together so well,
19:13
Speaker 1: upper body, legs, he's he's got he's got everything, so uh,
19:16
Speaker 1: you know, and then you add Giovanni Bernard into that mix.
19:19
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's a that's a trio of as
19:21
Speaker 1: good a talent as most teams in the NFL would
19:24
Speaker 1: hope to have. Let's talk about the wide receivers lap,
19:27
Speaker 1: because there's obviously a battle to make the roster among
19:30
Speaker 1: the guys. After aj Green, Tyler Boyd and John Ross,
19:34
Speaker 1: Damian Willis started the game, altn a touchdown catch. Then
19:38
Speaker 1: Tell Bryant probably not in that mix, but he had
19:41
Speaker 1: his first big game. Cody Core caught every pass thrown
19:45
Speaker 1: in his direction. So guys battling for those spots are
19:49
Speaker 1: coming up with plays. Yeah, I thought it was a
19:50
Speaker 1: good move tonight by the coaches, preseason game number three
19:53
Speaker 1: has changed. It's not starters playing a half, cooling down,
19:57
Speaker 1: warming back up, making halftime adjustments, and playing in the
20:00
Speaker 1: early stage of the third quarter. It's still an evaluation time.
20:04
Speaker 1: So they wanted to see these young wide receivers working
20:06
Speaker 1: with the number ones working with Andy Dalton and everybody
20:09
Speaker 1: with the number ones against the other team's number ones
20:11
Speaker 1: defensively because you know, people can say, well a lot
20:14
Speaker 1: of those numbers against guys an't even gonna make the team,
20:16
Speaker 1: you know, for the for the opponent. Well not the
20:18
Speaker 1: case here. And they stepped they still made plays, stepped
20:21
Speaker 1: up and made plays. That's a very good sign. And
20:23
Speaker 1: you know, Willis just keeps showing the production, the poise.
20:26
Speaker 1: It's never too big for the guy. I mean, he
20:28
Speaker 1: is just even keel. You know, you gotta like it.
20:31
Speaker 1: You gotta like what he's doing. And he's he's not
20:34
Speaker 1: making any assumptions. I mean, he's just taking it day
20:36
Speaker 1: by day and taking advantage of opportunities. And you know,
20:39
Speaker 1: Odd and Tate and saw him after the game. It's
20:41
Speaker 1: not serious. You know, he just get banged up a
20:43
Speaker 1: little bit, you know, he was. He made a couple
20:45
Speaker 1: of catches. I mean, I thought it was a really
20:47
Speaker 1: good move to evaluate the young guys against people that
20:50
Speaker 1: are trying to make the football team themselves in the opposition.
20:53
Speaker 1: And Josh Malone had a touchdown catch as well. Right,
20:56
Speaker 1: let's talk about the running game or lack thereof Yeah. Yeah,
21:00
Speaker 1: let's see sixteen rushes twenty nine yards. That's one point
21:04
Speaker 1: eight yards per rush. I'm thinking of three preseason games
21:09
Speaker 1: so far. I don't remember a gaping hole yet on
21:13
Speaker 1: a running play. Yeah, I think they're being literally at
21:17
Speaker 1: this At this point, it is so simple. I don't
21:21
Speaker 1: think they have but three runs, and I'm not sure
21:23
Speaker 1: that they have many more protections than that. It is
21:27
Speaker 1: more vanilla than vanilla can be. So I think that's
21:30
Speaker 1: that's that's part of it. But you don't want to make,
21:32
Speaker 1: you know, any excuses. You still need to knock people
21:35
Speaker 1: off the line of scrimmage and give your back an opportunity.
21:38
Speaker 1: Too many times in tonight's football game when a running
21:40
Speaker 1: back has to make is cut in his own backfield,
21:42
Speaker 1: he's dead meat. And that happened regularly. So you're gonna
21:45
Speaker 1: have to You're gonna have to shore it up. I mean,
21:47
Speaker 1: at least give them even Stephen chance to get past
21:49
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage and uh and then and then
21:51
Speaker 1: see what goes from there. But I think the running
21:53
Speaker 1: game will get better, particularly when Joe Mixon is involved.
21:57
Speaker 1: I think you know it's naturally going to get better,
21:59
Speaker 1: and you know it's not going to stay at less
22:02
Speaker 1: than two yards to carry for the season. Everything's crossed.
22:04
Speaker 1: You can't. On the defensive side of things, we got
22:08
Speaker 1: our first look at Carl Lawson coming back from his
22:10
Speaker 1: torn acl The New York Giants left tackle Nate Solder
22:16
Speaker 1: desperately wishes he did not make his preseason debut tonight.
22:19
Speaker 1: I think that Carl Lawson already got a Pro Bowl vote.
22:23
Speaker 1: Nate Solold is gonna put him. I mean he turned
22:26
Speaker 1: him every which way but loose. He threw him five
22:28
Speaker 1: yards like he was raggedy andy. He beat him on
22:30
Speaker 1: a speed rush, he beat him inside shoulder, held him
22:33
Speaker 1: on a thirty five yard passed down to the two
22:35
Speaker 1: yard line. And I talked to Carlos to the game
22:37
Speaker 1: and I said, man does a frustrate when you get
22:39
Speaker 1: held like that? He goes. I look at it as
22:40
Speaker 1: a sign of respect. You know, I get held him.
22:42
Speaker 1: I get held in Kansas City on a touchdown throw.
22:44
Speaker 1: So he said, those things are going to happen. But
22:46
Speaker 1: he looked good. I mean, his conversion of speed to
22:50
Speaker 1: power was there. He had the upfield rush. I mean,
22:53
Speaker 1: he's I'd put him in, you know, put him in
22:56
Speaker 1: a bubble wrap and let him explode against the Seattle Seahawks.
23:00
Speaker 1: He win had a nice game upfront as well. He
23:01
Speaker 1: did carry one was playing against his former team in
23:05
Speaker 1: a stage of the game where he can shine, and
23:07
Speaker 1: he did. He's shone very brightly. And there's a guy
23:10
Speaker 1: that can do a lot of things for Darren Simmons
23:12
Speaker 1: on special teams as well as be a versatile guy
23:14
Speaker 1: up front with a defensive line's you know, he's a
23:17
Speaker 1: jewel in your forty six men roster, number mine fifty three.
23:21
Speaker 1: Let's get back to running back Rodney Anderson for a moment.
23:24
Speaker 1: In his only healthy year at Oklahoma, he rushed for
23:27
Speaker 1: more than eleven hundred yards, averaged more than six yards
23:30
Speaker 1: per carrey, added two hundred eighty one receiving yards, and
23:34
Speaker 1: scored a total of eighteen touchdowns. In the Rose Bowl
23:38
Speaker 1: that year against Georgia, Anderson rushed for two hundred and
23:42
Speaker 1: one yards. As Jay Morrison of The Athletic pointed out,
23:45
Speaker 1: that game featured twenty four NFL draft picks, including seven
23:49
Speaker 1: first rounders, and Anderson was one of the most impressive
23:53
Speaker 1: players on the field. I spoke to Rodney this week.
23:57
Speaker 1: I read that last year at Oklahoma. While you were out,
24:00
Speaker 1: you regularly visited with middle school kids and talk to
24:03
Speaker 1: them about your experiences. What was the crux of your message? Basically,
24:08
Speaker 1: it was just, you know, bad things happen to everybody,
24:12
Speaker 1: and you know, whether it's a big thing or a
24:14
Speaker 1: small thing, you know, they can be hard to come
24:16
Speaker 1: back from. So I was just trying to share my
24:18
Speaker 1: story with younger people, just to let them know that
24:20
Speaker 1: there's always a way you can get out of, you know,
24:22
Speaker 1: tough situations. There's always a comeback, and so just trying
24:26
Speaker 1: to let them know that there's a lot at the
24:27
Speaker 1: end of the tunnel. Or visiting with Rodney Anderson. What
24:30
Speaker 1: has your training camp experience been like so far? It's
24:33
Speaker 1: been good. I've been getting a lot of mental reps,
24:35
Speaker 1: just because at the very beginning I was pretty limited.
24:37
Speaker 1: But you know I've been I've been getting cleared for
24:40
Speaker 1: more and more and more until they completely cleared me,
24:42
Speaker 1: and so, uh, you know, I'm just trying to get
24:45
Speaker 1: back into things, you know, just getting the system down,
24:47
Speaker 1: trying to get some actual reps under my belt now
24:50
Speaker 1: and just so I can get ready for this game
24:51
Speaker 1: coming up. There are various ways to measure athletic ability
24:55
Speaker 1: forty yard dash, weightlifting, three cone drill, etc. I saw
25:00
Speaker 1: the footage on the Internet of you jumping out of
25:02
Speaker 1: a swimming pool. The water is waiste high, you jump
25:06
Speaker 1: out onto the deck next to the pool. How did
25:09
Speaker 1: that come about? It was one of those things where
25:13
Speaker 1: I was I was in the hot tub after practice,
25:17
Speaker 1: and you know, I was in there with a couple
25:18
Speaker 1: of my teammates, and one of my former teammates, DeVante Limpkin,
25:23
Speaker 1: has just asked me if I could, if I'd ever
25:25
Speaker 1: seen anybody jump out of a pool before, if I
25:27
Speaker 1: could do it, and I'd never done it before, So
25:29
Speaker 1: I just I tried it one time and I got
25:31
Speaker 1: up there, but then I kind of fell back into
25:33
Speaker 1: the water, and then I did it again. He just
25:35
Speaker 1: and he recorded the second time. So I strongly recommend
25:38
Speaker 1: checking out that video. Just search for Rodney Anderson pool
25:42
Speaker 1: and you'll see what I mean. There's one game left
25:45
Speaker 1: in the preseason. It's coming up next Thursday night at
25:48
Speaker 1: home against the Indianapolis Colts. Now time for this week's
25:52
Speaker 1: fun facts segment, as we get to know the person
25:55
Speaker 1: under the pads. In this case, it's a rookie running
25:59
Speaker 1: back who leads the Bengals and rushing this preseason with
26:02
Speaker 1: nineteen carries for sixty eight yards and also leads the
26:06
Speaker 1: team with twelve receptions. Time for some fun facts with
26:10
Speaker 1: running back Jordan Ellis from the Atlanta, Georgia area. Tell
26:14
Speaker 1: us a little bit about some of the things you
26:16
Speaker 1: were into growing up. Um, just, you know, always being outside.
26:20
Speaker 1: I was a kid. I loved to be outside. I
26:21
Speaker 1: mean I played video games too, but I was always
26:24
Speaker 1: outside playing basketball, baseball, football, anything I give my hands on. Really,
26:31
Speaker 1: riding bikes, scooters. I like to be outside and kind
26:35
Speaker 1: of venture around and um just you know being outside
26:39
Speaker 1: really as enjoying joining the life as a kid. What
26:42
Speaker 1: did your folks do and what were some of the
26:44
Speaker 1: most important lessons he learned from them? Um, I would say,
26:47
Speaker 1: just hard work. And my mom she uh she, I
26:51
Speaker 1: mean she goes to work almost every day and she
26:54
Speaker 1: never really uh made make any excuses no matter how
26:58
Speaker 1: how bad she feels. I mean, she could be sick,
27:01
Speaker 1: She's still going to work. Like And that kind of
27:03
Speaker 1: instilled in me. No matter how you feel, you might
27:05
Speaker 1: not be feeling good every single day, but you gotta
27:10
Speaker 1: She knew she had to provide for me and my brothers.
27:12
Speaker 1: So she has to kind of like just suck it
27:15
Speaker 1: up and go to work. And I kind of like
27:17
Speaker 1: how I kind of act now, I mean, you know,
27:19
Speaker 1: and that every day not gonna feel the best. You're
27:22
Speaker 1: gonna feel sore some days, and some days you might
27:25
Speaker 1: not be in it mentally. You might just be a
27:31
Speaker 1: down day, and you just gotta kinda find the will
27:34
Speaker 1: inside of you to push through. So that's something that's
27:37
Speaker 1: something the thing that's probably the biggest lesson just pushing
27:39
Speaker 1: yourself when you don't feel like it. Just just working
27:41
Speaker 1: hard no matter what. Visiting the Jordan ellis he went
27:44
Speaker 1: to Peachtree High School, which has cranked out a lot
27:47
Speaker 1: of NFL football players, Cam Hayward of the Steelers, Bradley Roby,
27:52
Speaker 1: the great former Ohio State Buckeye. How big of a
27:55
Speaker 1: deal is football at Peachtree rich Us It's a very
27:59
Speaker 1: big deal. I mean coming into the school. I actually
28:01
Speaker 1: transferred my junior year into the school and just just
28:05
Speaker 1: knowing a little bit, I mean, it wasn't it was
28:08
Speaker 1: probably it's eighth year in existence when I transferred into it.
28:11
Speaker 1: So but it had already a tradition I mean, they
28:14
Speaker 1: had had won a state championship, had been to US
28:16
Speaker 1: two state championships, So, I mean, we have a pretty
28:19
Speaker 1: good tradition and just not only at Paht Ridge, but
28:23
Speaker 1: in the area, Counette County area. I mean, it's it's
28:25
Speaker 1: definitely great high school competition. I think that that has
28:29
Speaker 1: prepared me for what I'm facing down in the NFL.
28:32
Speaker 1: We're doing fun facts. Jordan ellis from there, sign of
28:35
Speaker 1: the University of Virginia YUVA UVA. Honestly, that was my
28:39
Speaker 1: biggest offer, biggest Black Power five offer, So it was
28:42
Speaker 1: my first offer, so kind of meant a lot to me.
28:45
Speaker 1: I mean, they it was school that just came in
28:47
Speaker 1: the first time I ever talked to him. They offered
28:49
Speaker 1: me so kind of meant a lot to me and
28:52
Speaker 1: just had to kind of take it and run with it.
28:54
Speaker 1: And it's one of the best decisions I made just
28:58
Speaker 1: being able to get a great education and the ultimately
29:01
Speaker 1: I'm going to end up finishing my masters. So I mean,
29:04
Speaker 1: to be able to get two degrees from a school
29:06
Speaker 1: like that, I mean, and the bonus part of playing
29:08
Speaker 1: football at highest level in college football, I mean, that's
29:12
Speaker 1: doesn't get no better. Than that, and I'm just glad
29:14
Speaker 1: I made the decision to go there. So one of
29:17
Speaker 1: the best decisions I mean they don't hand out to
29:20
Speaker 1: plumis at the University of Virginia. How did you juggle
29:23
Speaker 1: football and academics? Uh just had to, you know, I had.
29:27
Speaker 1: I had a lot of great support system at there,
29:30
Speaker 1: had great academic advisors, so it kept me, um, kept
29:35
Speaker 1: my head on straight. Had great coaches so able to
29:39
Speaker 1: you know, get my all in football and academics. And
29:42
Speaker 1: we had a head coach that really preached um, um
29:46
Speaker 1: academics and football that it can't work together. So UM.
29:49
Speaker 1: Just being blessed to have a great support system and
29:53
Speaker 1: um just to be able to get a high level
29:56
Speaker 1: education and play football. I mean, that's doesn't get no better.
30:00
Speaker 1: And what I mean something that the degree, the education
30:03
Speaker 1: will carry me for the rest of my life. So
30:05
Speaker 1: that's something that you can't take away from you. I've
30:09
Speaker 1: seen the footage of your first college carry. I'm not
30:12
Speaker 1: going to describe it. I want you to to be
30:15
Speaker 1: honest with you. It is a blur. I mean, could
30:17
Speaker 1: it happened so fast? It's crazy that my first college
30:21
Speaker 1: carry was a touchdown. It's still like so surreal to
30:25
Speaker 1: even think of think about that. I mean, I can't
30:28
Speaker 1: even really describe it to you. Happened so fast you
30:30
Speaker 1: broke seven tackles, Yeah, I mean it was. It was
30:33
Speaker 1: just like dang, like I was. It's like boom boom boom,
30:36
Speaker 1: and I was an end zone Like it was crazy.
30:38
Speaker 1: It just happened so fast, and I'm just that was
30:41
Speaker 1: just a blessing something that I could tell my kids
30:44
Speaker 1: one day. One of the interesting traditions in Virginia is
30:48
Speaker 1: how you go about getting your uniform number. You earn
30:52
Speaker 1: it and you essentially earned the number one pick. Describe
30:56
Speaker 1: that tradition and what that honor meant to you mean
30:59
Speaker 1: a lot to me? Is um, it's voted on by
31:01
Speaker 1: by by your peers, by the players, no no coaches involved,
31:05
Speaker 1: as strictly players, and um, just to just to have
31:08
Speaker 1: that through straight years, I mean that means a lot
31:10
Speaker 1: to because the number one thing that I want to
31:14
Speaker 1: be is on a team is just a great teammate,
31:16
Speaker 1: a great person, and I want I want people to
31:18
Speaker 1: see that I'm a great person, unselfish person, and some
31:22
Speaker 1: somebody that's gonna do anything for the team. And to
31:25
Speaker 1: have that recognition three years in a row. It just
31:27
Speaker 1: means a lot to me the way I'm viewed by
31:30
Speaker 1: my peers and notimately, you just want to just be
31:33
Speaker 1: a great teammate and um, and and they saw that
31:37
Speaker 1: I was. I was that, and I'm willing to just just
31:39
Speaker 1: work hard. I didn't really say much, but I just
31:42
Speaker 1: let all my like my action do the talking. And
31:45
Speaker 1: I mean, that was definitely one of the biggest achievements, uh,
31:49
Speaker 1: probably to date. Um, just just being able to be
31:53
Speaker 1: recognized by my peers in that way. A few more
31:56
Speaker 1: fun facts with Jordan Ellis. While you were at Virginia
31:58
Speaker 1: the basketball team was pretty darn good winning a national
32:02
Speaker 1: championship last year. How much fun was it to be
32:05
Speaker 1: a basketball fan while you were a student at UVAC?
32:08
Speaker 1: It was definitely it was really fun. I mean I
32:10
Speaker 1: was going to the game, so I actually went to
32:13
Speaker 1: the game. They ultimately lost, but when they played Zion,
32:17
Speaker 1: it was a lot of energy at the game, and
32:22
Speaker 1: I was I went to a lot of games when
32:23
Speaker 1: I was at UVA, so it was it was definitely
32:25
Speaker 1: a great experience to the chair on the basketball team
32:29
Speaker 1: and to see how they came back after what happened
32:32
Speaker 1: the previous year losing to a sixteen seed. It was
32:35
Speaker 1: definitely made the story even that much better and it
32:39
Speaker 1: was definitely just crazy to be at school when they
32:42
Speaker 1: won the national championship. So that's something I'll never forget.
32:45
Speaker 1: Let's fast forward to Cincinnati. Why did you elect to
32:48
Speaker 1: sign with the Bengals as a free agent? Well, it
32:50
Speaker 1: was the only team from my agent that was showing
32:53
Speaker 1: interest in me, so I hopped on board and just
32:57
Speaker 1: took it and ran with it. I just wanted one opportunity.
32:59
Speaker 1: Really knew it was probably gonna come down to me
33:01
Speaker 1: being an undrafted free agent, so I just wanted one opportunity,
33:05
Speaker 1: and my agent said this is probably the best best
33:08
Speaker 1: fit for me at the time. So, UM, I've been
33:13
Speaker 1: loving it since I got here. Um, it's something that, um,
33:17
Speaker 1: if God willing, I'm here for how many years. I mean,
33:22
Speaker 1: I'm just enjoying the experience right now and just just
33:25
Speaker 1: really enjoying it all. I'm just taking it all in.
33:28
Speaker 1: Rumor has it you're a big roller coaster guy? Is
33:30
Speaker 1: that true? Yeah? It is. I love roller coasters. Have
33:33
Speaker 1: you been to King's Island? I have it? I have it, Yeah,
33:36
Speaker 1: I probably I probably will. I probably will very soon
33:39
Speaker 1: if I have time to get out there because I
33:41
Speaker 1: love roller coasters. All right, I'm gonna get you fired up.
33:44
Speaker 1: King's Island just an ounce that they are building a
33:47
Speaker 1: giga coaster. They're only six in the world right now.
33:50
Speaker 1: It has a three hundred foot drop, it goes ninety
33:53
Speaker 1: one miles an hour, So this is what you have
33:56
Speaker 1: to look forward to when it's finished. Man, I'm gonna
33:58
Speaker 1: have to definitely checking island. I would definitely have to
34:01
Speaker 1: go to Kings Island and check it out. So you're
34:04
Speaker 1: off the hot seat, appreciate the time, best of luck,
34:07
Speaker 1: Thank you. Jordan Ellis figures to be very busy in
34:10
Speaker 1: the final preseason game next Thursday against Indie. That's going
34:15
Speaker 1: to do it for this edition of the podcast. If
34:17
Speaker 1: you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher,
34:22
Speaker 1: Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean, and if you have
34:25
Speaker 1: a moment, please give us a rating or leave a comment.
34:28
Speaker 1: Your feedback has been very helpful and five star ratings
34:31
Speaker 1: help more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde.
34:36
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast.